This guest piece was written and submitted by local historian Bob Lalich. His research on this topic is unprecedented and nothing similar is available to our knowledge. Big thanks to Bob for sharing this valuable information!
By-Products Coke Corp plant was constructed in 1905. The plant was served by a dedicated railroad – Calumet, Hammond & Southeastern. The railroad connected to the Chicago & Western Indiana on the east side of the plant, and the Nickel Plate on the west side of the plant. The plant’s primary customers of coke and coke gas were Federal Furnace (also constructed in 1905), Peoples Gas, Light & Coke, the National Malleable Castings Company, and the Iroquois Iron Company.
Federal Furnace began producing iron in 1907 at 108th St on Pennsylvania RR’s Calumet River line on the east side of the Calumet River. The Indiana Harbor Belt had trackage rights over the CR line. Both railroads had switching rights for Federal Furnace.
Iroquois Furnace Co had built a plant on the east bank of the Calumet River at 95th St in the early 1890s. Coke was shipped in from the Connellsville PA district by rail. The company was reorganized as Iroquois Iron in 1899. The plant railroad was incorporated as a common carrier in 1900, becoming the Chicago Short Line. By 1905, business was outgrowing the 95th St site and the company purchased land at the mouth of the Calumet River for construction of a new plant. The new plant was completed in 1911 or 1912.
By 1915 Pickands, Mather & Co controlled By-Products Coke, Federal Furnace, National Malleable Castings, and had partial ownership of Iroquois Iron.
In 1918, CSL acquired the CH&S and began switching the coke plant in 1919. At that time, CSL had trackage rights over the B&O between Whiting and South Chicago, Rock Island’s South Chicago Branch, and NKP from Pullman Jct to the coke plant.
CSL hauled coke from By-Products Coke to Iroquois Iron until a coke plant was built on the new Iroquois site at the mouth of the river. Iroquois Iron became part of Youngstown Sheet & Tube in 1923.
It is uncertain how coke from By-Products Coke got to Federal Furnace prior to 1924. Between 1920 and 1924, a series of agreements were made between CSL, C&WI and Belt Railway of Chicago. Those agreements allowed CSL to use BRC from South Chicago (Rock Island Jct) to South Deering, and C&WI in the vicinity of South Deering. CSL was allowed to deliver coke destined for Federal Furnace to PRR and IHB at their jointly owned Irondale Yard located on the Calumet Western RR (jointly owned by PRR, IHB and Rock Island) at 114th St, immediately east of the C&WI.
In 1929 Pickands, Mather & Co assets were merged into Interlake Iron Corp.
In 1935, an agreement with BRC allowed CSL to haul coke destined for the furnace plant over the BRC to Rock Island Jct. At the same time, CSL also obtained rights from PRR to use the Calumet River line for coke cars going to the furnace plant. For the first time, trains of coke were hauled by one railroad from the coke plant to the furnace plant.
A conveyor system linking the coke plant with the furnace plant was constructed in 1957, eliminating the need to transport the coke by rail.
CSL had become wholly owned by YS&T by 1962, but continued to switch the coke plant.
